A reflectometric method for the standardized evaluation of pharmacological influence on various ultraviolet erythemas.

The influence of pharmaceutics with unknown modes of action on an ultraviolet erythema with familiar etiology offers conclusions as to the pharmaceutic's points of operation. Inversely, the influence of pharmaceutics with a known mode of action on erythemas whose pathomechanism is unknown permits insights into the erythemas' etiology. Based upon these propositions a new precise method for measuring intensities of erythema was developed. The article describes the use of this method in investigating various types of erythemas and the influence of different drugs upon them. The objective measurement of various erythemas was conducted by means of reflectometry. The term "treatment factor" is newly introduced and defined as a quotient of the reflectance of treatment and control fields. The data processing method used to evaluate the individual reflectance values is elaborated. Various possibilities for coordinating control and test fields are illustrated.